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Monday, July 14, 2014

Vatican City, 13 July 2014 (VIS) – At
midday Pope Francis appeared at the window of his study to pray the
Sunday Angelus with thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter's
Square. Before the Marian prayer, the Holy Father commented on the
Gospel reading of the day's liturgy, which was the parable of the
sower.

“Jesus uses many parables”, he
said. These constitute “a language comprehensible to everyone, with
images drawn from nature and situations from daily life. The first is
an introduction to all the parables: that of the sower who casts his
seed freely on all types of terrain”.

“The true protagonist of this parable
is indeed the seed, which produces more or less fruit, depending on
the land on which it falls. The first three terrains are
unproductive: on the path, the seeds are eaten by birds; on the rocky
ground, the buds dry quickly because they have no roots; among
bushes, the seeds are choked by thorns. The fourth ground is good
ground: only there does the seed take root and bears fruit”.

In this case, continued Francis, Jesus
does not limit himself simply to presenting the parable, but also
explains it. “The seed that fell on the path signifies those who
hear the proclamation of the Kingdom of God but do not receive him,
so the Evil One comes and takes it away, as he does not want the seed
of the Gospel to germinate in the hearts of men. This is the first
comparison. The second is the seed that fell on stony ground: this
represents those who hear the word of God, and receive it
immediately, but superficially, so it does not take roots and they
are inconsistent; and when trials and tribulations arrive, these
people lose heart immediately. The third case is that of the seed
that fell among thorns. Jesus explains that it refers to those who
hear the word but, owing to worldly concerns and the seduction of
wealth, it remains stifled. Finally, the seed that fell on fertile
soil represents those who hear the word, welcome it, safeguard it,
and understand it – and it bears fruit. The perfect model of this
good ground is the Virgin Mary”.

This parable speaks to each of us
today, as it spoke to the listeners of Jesus two thousand years ago.
It reminds us that we are the land where the Lord tirelessly throws
the seed of His Word and His love. How do we receive it? How is our
heart? What type of ground do we offer it: a path, a stone, a thorn
bush? It is up to us to become good soil without thorns or stones,
but instead cultivated with care, so that it can bring forth good
fruit for us and for our brethren”.

The Pope concluded, “it is good for
us not to forget that we too are sowers. God sows good seeds, and at
this point too we can ask ourselves: what type of seed comes out of
our heart and our mouth? Our words can do great good and also much
evil; they can heal and they can wound, they can encourage and they
can depress. Remember: what counts is not what enters, but what
emerges from the mouth and the heart”.

Vatican City, 13 July 2014 (VIS) –
After praying the Angelus, the Pope launched a fresh appeal for
fervent prayer for peace in the Holy Land in the light of the tragic
events of recent days.

“I still recall the meeting of 8 June
with Patriarch Bartholomaios, President Peres and President Abbas,
with whom we invoked the gift of peace and heard the call to break
the cycle of hatred and violence. Some might think that such a
meeting took place in vain. But no, because prayer helps us not to
allow ourselves to be overcome by evil, nor resign ourselves to
violence and hatred taking over dialogue and reconciliation. I urge
the parties concerned and all those who have political responsibility
at local and international levels to offer a prayer and make some
effort to bring an end to all hostilities and to achieve the desired
peace for the good of all. And I invite everyone to unite in prayer.
In silence everyone, let us pray. Now, Lord, help us! Grant us peace,
teach us peace, guide us toward peace. Open our eyes and our hearts
and give us the courage to say: “No more war!” “War destroys
everything”. Give us the courage to take concrete actions to build
peace. Make us willing to listen to the cry of our citizens who ask
us to transform our weapons into instruments of peace, our fears into
trust, and our tensions into forgiveness”.

The Holy Father then went on to comment
that today is “Sea Sunday”, and greeted all seafarers, fishermen
and their families, urging Christian communities, particularly those
living in coastal areas, to be attentive to them. “I also invite
the chaplains and volunteers of the Apostleship of the Sea to
continue their commitment to the pastoral care of these brothers and
sisters”, he added, entrusting all, “especially those who are in
difficulty and away from home, to the maternal protection of Mary,
Star of the Sea”.

Finally, he blessed all the spiritual
sons and daughters of St. Camillus de Lellis, as tomorrow marks the
400th anniversary of his death, and invited the Camillan family, in
this jubilee year, “to be a sign of the Lord Jesus who, as the Good
Samaritan, tends to the wounds of the body and the spirit of
suffering humanity, pouring the oil of consolation and the wine of
hope. To those of you gathered here in St Peter's Square, as well as
to health professionals serving in hospitals and nursing homes, it is
my hope that you may continue grow in the charism of charity, fuelled
by daily contact with the sick”.

Vatican City, 14 July 2014 (VIS) – On
Sunday morning the Holy Father sent a video message to patients in
Rome's Agostino Gemelli Hospital, in which he apologised for be
unable to attend the visit planned for 27 June, cancelled due to an
unexpected indisposition. “I extend my apologies not only to the
hospital directors but to all those who have worked with such effort
and passion. Above all, I include the patients waiting to be able to
pray together during the Holy Mass, whom I would have liked to greet
personally”.

Francis encouraged the sick to
cultivate in prayer “the flavour of the things of God; bear witness
that your strength lies in God alone. You who, as patients,
experience the frailty of the body, can offer a powerful testimony to
those who are near you of how the Gospel and the merciful love of the
Father are a precious asset in life, not money or power. Indeed, even
when a person is important according to a worldly logic, he is not
able to add even one extra day to his own life”.

The Pope commented that the summer
vacations were approaching and that many people go on holiday to
relax. “However, summer is also a difficult moment especially for
the elderly and the sick, who are more likely to remain alone and who
encounter greater difficulties in obtaining certain services,
especially in big cities. So, this time of repose is also the time in
which the difficulties in life can become even greater”. He
concluded by highlighting the passion and dedication of the hospital
staff, and thanked them warmly for their work. “I truly looked
forward to meeting with you but, as you well know, we are not the
masters of our own lives and things do not always go to plan. We must
accept our frailty. With me, cultivate the trust that our strength
lies in God alone. I entrust you to Mary and ask that you continue to
pray for me, as I need your prayers”.

Vatican City, 13 July 2014 (VIS) –
Yesterday, Saturday, the Holy Father lunched with the participants in
the international seminar dedicated to Pope Francis' proposal in the
Apostolic Exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium”, for “an increasingly
inclusive economy”, which took place in the Casina Pio IV in the
Vatican.

“What you do is very important”, he
said. “Reflecting on reality, but reflecting without fear,
reflecting with intelligence. Without fear and with intelligence. And
this is a service”. Referring to the themes considered during the
seminar, he went on to offer a brief discourse on anthropological
reductionism.

“I believe that this is the strongest
moment for anthropological reductionism. What is happening to
humanity at the moment is what happens when wine becomes brandy: it
passes through a phase of distillation, in organisational terms. It
is no longer wine, but it is something else: perhaps more useful,
more qualified, but it is not wine! For mankind it is the same: man
passes through this transformational phase and ends up – and I am
serious – losing his humanity and becoming a tool of the system, a
social and economic system, a system where imbalance reigns. When
mankind loses his humanity, what happens to us? What occurs is what I
would describe in simple terms as a throwaway policy or sociology:
what is no longer useful is discarded, because man is not at the
centre. And when man is not at the centre, there is something else in
his place and man is at the service of this other thing. The idea,
therefore, is to save mankind, in the sense of restoring him to the
centre: to the centre of society, of thought, of reflection.
Restoring mankind to the centre. You do good work. You study,
reflect, hold conferences for this reason – so that mankind is not
discarded. Children are discarded – we all know about today's birth
rates, at least in Europe; the elderly are discarded, because they
are not 'useful'. And now? An entire generation of young people is
discarded, and this is very serious! I have seen a figure: 75 million
young people, under the age of 25, without work. The 'neither-nor'
young: those who neither work nor study. They do not study because
they do not have the opportunity, and the do not work because there
is no work. Who will be the next to be discarded? Let us stop this in
time, please!”.

The Pope thanked those present for
their work and their initiatives “to restore balance to this
imbalanced situation and to recover mankind, restoring him to the
centre of reflection and the centre of life. He is the king of the
universe!” he exclaimed. “And this is not theology, it is
philosophy and human reality”.

- appointed Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega
y Alamino, archbishop of La Habana (Cuba), as his special envoy to
the concluding celebration of the 350 th anniversary of the
foundation of the parish of Notre Dame-de-Québec, Canada,
“mother-church of all the parishes of North America” scheduled
for 14 September 2014.

- appointed Rev. Luca Sansalone of the
clergy of Rome as judicial vicar of the Tribunal of First Instance
for the causes of nullity of marriage for the region of Latium. Rev.
Sansalone was previously adjunct judicial vicar at the same Tribunal.